Class Tracking - What is it and why would you need it?
Last blog post we talked about Account Numbers and how to
turn them on and off as well as re-sorting the list/reports…let’s go to another
preference within ‘Edit’, ‘Preferences’, ‘Accounting’ called ‘Use Class Tracking.’
Use class tracking!? What is that and why would I use that?
A ‘Class’ in QuickBooks is…let’s call it a department or a
particular revenue stream within your business.
Within a small retail shop you could track men’s, women’s, boy’s, &
girl’s clothing with 4 different classes.
Another example is tracking catalog sales & expenses vs
in person sales expenses.
If you go to the QuickBooks help menu and look at Classes…let
me say this first. I’m not a big fan of
most software help menus but, QuickBooks has done an outstanding job in 2009
with their help menu. Within any screen
of QuickBooks, if you have a question, you can press F1 and a right side help
toolbar will open up and give you REALATIVE help based on the screen that you
are on…if you are in an invoice it’ll give you invoice help. If you’re in a report, it’ll give you
reporting help…you get the idea. So…QuickBooks
help reads like this…
“Lets you categorize transactions by
assigning them to the classes on your Class list.
In QuickBooks, classes give you a way
to classify your transactions. You can use classes to classify your income and
expenses by department, business office or location, separate properties you
own, or any other meaningful breakdown of the business you do.
For example, a general contractor
might classify all income and expenses as relating to either residential or
commercial work. A farmer might create a class for each enterprise—for example,
"Corn," "Hogs," and "Soybeans." At the end of an
accounting period, the contractor could create separate reports for the
residential and commercial parts of the business. Likewise, the farmer could
create separate reports for each farm enterprise.
When this preference is on QuickBooks
includes a Class field on all transactions.”
So you now know how, within preference to turn class
tracking on and off…my suggestion is to turn it on and use it. You know that you can use it to track your
profit centers…figure out where your money makers are as well as where your
money losers are…QuickBooks and class tracking takes all the guesswork out of
determining what’s working and what’s not.
Any Questions?
As always, send comments, suggestions, etc….we’ll be happy
to help answer them given half a chance.
Don’t guess or play with your business finances and your bookkeeping…find
a QuickBooks ProAdvisor if you are unsure about what you’re doing.
Have a GREAT day and a GREAT week!
Brandon Morris
Barons', Inc. - Business software training & support!
www.baronsinc.com
